KRAKÓW VOTES INDEPENDENT AND RESHUFFLES THE CARDS AMID 2027

On 11 October 2026, the independent Łukasz Gibała won the Kraków mayoral run-off with 62.1% of the vote, defeating Monika Piątkowska, the joint candidate of Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition (KO) and the Polish People's Party (PSL), on a turnout of 44.3%. The early election followed May's recall referendum, in which KO mayor Aleksander Miszalski was removed amid accusations of cronyism and poor financial management. For Gibała, a self-funded businessman, it was a fourth attempt and a first victory; he framed it as Kraków residents knowing better than "politicians in Warsaw".